Jedd
Sir Jedd, a Knight of the Hidden Vale, is a fighter who is more well-known for his efforts in the field of history than in the field of battle, spending most of his days burying himself in research and in the maintenance of the archives. Prior to the formation of the Vale, he was a member of the Mirith Vanguard, and served as the leader of the Circle of Friends prior to that. He is a lover of all things green – a fact which has not gone unnoticed by the Greeter Duvalle – and can be recognized by his characteristic outfit of a green robe with black plate arms. He is generally quite reserved and pleasant, but with an irreverent streak and a lack of patience that has often put him at odds with companions and authority figures alike. .]] Youth (433-438) Hailing from Lerilin, Jedd is known to have lived his early life as a penniless orphan with his younger brother Ryen. The fighter's first appearances in the public records date back to 433, when at the age of 13 he was taken in by the newly established Circle of Friends, and in particular by the original founder and leader, Heike Helm, who became his adopted sister. Soon afterwards, Ryen too became a member of the Circle, and the fighter then spent several moons training and growing alongside his brother and his new companions. By the end of that year, as the first of the lengthy Ice Wars started to rage, Jedd left home to join the fighting on the front lines, far to the north. The war proved to be extremely taxing, both physically and psychologically. The destruction of Duldrus by Vandrovic was one particularly traumatic event to which Jedd bore painful witness, and one which would never cease to haunt his mind, waking or dreaming. And then later, during the protracted campaign to liberate Welif, Jedd was grievously wounded in a Frost Giant ambush, and spent the next two years convalescing in Mirith. Upon his recovery, he returned to Lerilin to find the Circle in a state of decline, with Heike having gone missing early on in the war, and most of his other old companions having scattered across Oberin. Determined to see his home community thrive, he began to work with interim leader Abernta to restore order. .]] Among his efforts were recovering the forgotten deed to the hall and convincing older members to get on board with the revitalization project. Soon, new membership began to rise as well, and once the guild was at appropriate strength, elections were held, and Jedd became the new leader at the age of 16. With the Circle reformed and operating smoothly, Jedd dedicated most of his time to the minutiae of his office, and to the fulfillment of the organization's mission to assist the needy, as he himself had once been assisted. But all too often his mind would drift to the ruins of Duldrus. And as time went on, his frustrations with himself at being powerless to fight back only continued to grow, as did his obsession with Vandrovic. So when Heike unexpectedly returned in 437, he and his officer/longtime friend Jastherin tendered their resignations, passing the leadership post right back to its original occupant. Using his newfound freedom, he journeyed to Duldrus to meet an old friend from the Circle: the fighter Razan, who was now living in the abandoned town as part of a plan to rebuild it and raise awareness of its plight. While Razan breathed new life into the Ferrite Lounge, Jedd supported the operation with a mining business of his own, and before long Jastherin joined in on the movement as well. At year's end, King Galandir did eventually decide to rebuild the town, and so the Rebuild Duldrus movement came to a conclusion. Jedd closed up shop early in the new year 438 and journeyed back to Mirith to take a temporary holiday. Once there, however, he quickly became tied up in the political webs between Mirith and Andris. The Year in Mirith (438) The political activity began when he joined a Mirithian task force on a mission to evict a Black Hand mage from the Dragon's Mouth cave. With encouragement from his friend and mentor Shayde, Jedd decided to write a letter detailing his suspicions about the incident to Captain Casden Pernell, then leader of the Mirith Royal Scouts, and so began his clandestine involvement as an unofficial agent of the Royal City. In this capacity, Jedd came to Andris to investigate the activities of Senator Muqities, taking on the guise of a research assistant. Jedd's main project was to assist the senator in his mission to craft a weapon that could kill the menacing Queen Spider. For this end, Jedd began to conduct expeditions into the various dark places of Oberin to collect blood samples from rare spiders. This was an often perilous undertaking which faced many barriers, not the least of which was the mountain of boulders that in those days blocked the entrance to the volcano. As part of the effort to detonate a way in, Jedd gathered together a motley crew of skilled miners and explosive technicians from across the lands. Among their numbers were representatives from the B.T.S., a secretive organization of artisans, and one in which he himself was reputed to be a member. All the while, Jedd sent reports back to Mirith on a regular basis at first, but with less frequency as time went on. And while his initial letters displayed a deep suspicion toward the senator, Jedd's later entries reveal a great amount of trust and respect for the man. During the later stages of the research project, Jedd became embroiled in an unrelated dispute with Razan and the notorious crew of Captain Jass. It began at a parley on Poison Island, where Jedd looked on as Razan announced his decision to join Jass's crew. As soon as the crew set sail, Jedd and a few others followed after them and attempted to sneak on board their ship. Later reports explain that Jedd and the others were hoping to persuade the renegade fighter to reconsider and return to the cities. This clearly did not happen, as the confrontation turned into an all-out brawl in which every single person involved was brought to the gray world, Jass included. But as time went on, it would appear that the two continued to be on good terms. This is evidenced by Razan's sizable donation to the spider project, and by several accounts that name Jedd as the one who found and returned Razan's missing gold medal. Nonetheless, this fateful day would engender in Jedd a deep-seated hatred for privateers – a development which would soon have serious implications for his future in Mirith. After this fiasco, Jedd distanced himself from the spider project, returning briefly to Lerilin to support the operations of the Circle. Whilst there, he assisted with the guild's sponsorship of the Lerilin Festival of 438, hosted as usual by Dracilus. This would turn out to be his last act as a member of the Circle, as he was then invited by Cassandra to join the Mirith Vanguard. Loath to leave behind a peaceful and fulfilling life in his hometown, and even weighing the possibility of a stint in the vanguard of Andris, he ultimately decided that his support was in greatest need in Mirith. The Royal City was then dealing with the fallout from the Foehan Underground invasion, and Black Hand activity in the region was on the rise. In his early days in the vanguard, he was involved in the discovery of a large D.D.D. research facility, which he dubbed "The Black Asylum". Along with the rest of the scouting team, he spent three days trapped in the facility before being rescued by Major Sule Tesdor of Marali. Some moons later, he assisted in Mirith's campaign to recover the Emerald Prism, and bore the Cerulean Diamond for that purpose. The Prism would be found (along with the long-absent Vandrovic and Commander Nyatha Vaup) in an uncharted valley tucked away in the mountains of Duldrus, a site which would come to be known as the Hidden Vale. The Blue Moon then arrived, and with it, the dramatic Fall of Mirith. Jedd was quick to join the Mirithian Resistance in their new refuge at Duldrus. While the Resistance was still in its infancy, he participated in negotiations with the remaining free cities of Oberin, gaining promises of material aid. Much like all the other Resistance members, he assisted with patrol duty, escorted supply caravans, and helped train Mirithian refugees to fight in the new guard force. The war effort carried on in this way, and Mirith's situation was beginning to look up, but all was not well within the fighter's troubled mind. As the fighter himself admits, his disappointment with the political nature of vanguard life was starting to take a toll, and his personal misgivings about serving a monarchy had always given him grief. But when the liberation of Mirith was won, and the pirate Halforth was revealed to be the new King of Mirith, Jedd came to the conclusion that his time in the city was up. And so in the early days of the Sleeping Moon, just as Mirith was freed, Jedd left the vanguard in peace. He remained in the city for the rest of that moon cycle, during which time he continued to be an unwilling participant in the city's political life. In this manner, he assisted in various reconstruction efforts: searching for a new temple priest, unraveling the infiltration of the city by the infamous Csilith of the D.D.D., and even cleaning up the sewers. With the dawn of the new year 439, he finally decided to make a clean break, and left to find a new home in his old stomping grounds: Duldrus. The Vale Years (439-present) In the peace and quiet of Duldrus, Jedd made a home for himself in a campsite in the mountains, taking on his old identity as a simple miner. It was there that he received a visit from an old friend from the Circle, Claius, who had also been involved in the Rebuild Duldrus movement. By Jedd's account, Claius was the one to propose a practical plan to build a fortified keep in the area. Its purpose was to be twofold: as a self-sufficient place of dwelling, and as a means to support and protect Duldrus, particularly as another war with the ice dragons loomed. And thus began a new era. Working in secret, Jedd and Claius scoured the cities to find any others who shared their interest in the northwestern region. Soon enough, a fellowship was formed. As perhaps could be expected, this included most of the other surviving members of Rebuild Duldrus, with one notable exception: Razan. The other fighter had disappeared sometime in late 438 without a trace, and his whereabouts continue to be a mystery, in no small part due to Jedd's silence on the matter. Allegedly, in the building where Jedd had once conducted his mining business, he at some point discovered a journal belonging to the missing fighter, lodged inside a barrel of coal. Though he refuses to divulge its contents, Jedd cites the journal as being key to unraveling much of the uncertainty that surrounds Razan's fate. So it was under the Growing Moon that the Mystic Order of the Hidden Vale finally came into being, and their Keep was built just outside the very valley where Vandrovic was freed. And as the specter of war continued to escalate, Jedd and his new guildmates went to work, bolstering the Keep's defenses. Meanwhile, archival records in Andris also name Jedd as being the victim of a malicious poisoning attempt in that city at around the same time, at the hands of Csilith. Though the fighter survived, the incident carried some political consequences, as Csilith was then applying to the Senate for asylum. But Jedd kept quiet and opted not to appear before the Senate, perhaps owing to his desire to avoid any more political ties. As such, the issue was resolved in his absence, thanks to the testimony of the Andrisian miners' association, with whom he had been staying during his sojourn. The Second Ice War Back in the northwest, war erupted as Vandrovic’s armies (also known as the Ice Flight) descended from the Hidden Peak and overran the Vale. The attack was repelled, and as soon as Jedd had recovered, he packed his things and set out for a long intel-gathering campaign. The first few weeks he spent searching the region for any other hidden mountain passes, and eventually found one just outside Duldrus. But being unable to contend with the legions of ice stationed on the slopes, he sent a report back to the Vale and moved on. His travels then took him to the newly discovered Atoll, where he chanced upon two paladins of the Knights of Silver: Halcrion and Commander Gruodland. After realizing they shared a common interest in defeating Vandrovic, the three of them teamed up and spent the rest of the day exploring the abandoned island, until they were ambushed by an ice dragon outside the house of Rittah. The trio emerged victorious, and the paladins then proposed a formal alliance be made between their own order and that of the Hidden Vale. Unable to provide an answer without the full backing of the Vale, Jedd offered to meet at a later date, and so the paladins made their leave. Jedd reported back to the Vale with all due haste, and the rest of his guildmates promptly agreed to the proposed alliance. Jedd and Sulovir II were selected to represent the Order in negotiations, and the pair set out on another long quest, this time to locate the secret temple of the Knights of Silver. The journey ended up taking over 150 days, with Jedd forgoing the Blue Moon Festival in order to follow up on a lead in the southwestern archipelago. There, at long last, the two representatives found the way into the forgotten Temple of Silver. Formalizing the alliance was a painless process, but devising a strategy to fight Vandrovic proved to be more difficult. Halcrion and Gruodland suggested that they reveal themselves to Mirith, and ally themselves with the King. Loath to return to the Royal City as a diplomat, but all too aware of their need for allies, Jedd assented. Immediately following, he and Sulovir journeyed to Mirith. There, they met their fellow guildmates Siegal and Rinaldo, and the four of them were invited to discuss the news over dinner with N’eroth, Royal Cleric Nafets, Lady Sophina of the Mirith Vanguard, and various other members of the royal court. Jedd told them at great length of all that had befallen him and Sulovir in the last 200 days, and ended by petitioning the king to consider making an alliance with the Knights of Silver. A spirited debate ensued, lasting well into the wee hours of the morning. Finally, as dawn approached, N’eroth decided he would need to consult with Royal Mage Beleth. He asked Jedd for two Crystal Tokens (which allow access to the secret temple), and thus the meeting was adjourned. The days dragged on with Jedd waiting in the city for news, but to no avail. To his great consternation, neither N’eroth nor the Knights of Silver could be found, and to this day their whereabouts are still unknown. But in the meantime, war continued. Jedd returned to the Vale and acted as a watchman, patrolling the slopes day and night. When the Ice Flight descended upon Duldrus later that year, Jedd sprung into action and allegedly almost defeated the Ice Spirit in a duel. And in the following year, once Vandrovic had conquered Marali and turned his forces toward Mirith, Jedd relocated to the Royal City to assist with its defense once more. And there he stayed until Vandrovic was slain and Marali liberated. His business there being completed, Jedd returned to the Keep for good. Post-War The life of Jedd post-Vandrovic has been a remarkably more peaceful one. Nowadays, he spends most of his days in the tranquility of the Vale, though he can still be found every now and then in Mirith, often in the company of Jastherin or Sulovir II. He is generally quite receptive to inquiring strangers, but reader beware: those who stop to talk with him, even for a brief moment, are sure to become the next unsuspecting audience of one of his infamously long tales of yore. Category:Fighter Category:Player